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Thorin II Oakenshield
'''Thorin II', also called the Oakenshield, King under the Mountain or the Mountain King, was the son of Thráin II, the older brother of Frerin and Dís, the grandson of King Thrór and the uncle of Fíli and Kíli. Thorin was best known for his deeds as leader of a company that infiltrated the lost Kingdom under the Mountain to take it back from Smaug and for leading an alliance of Men, Dwarves, and Elves in the Battle of the Five Armies. Biography Early Life Master of the golden harp and a tenacious fighter, Thorin II was born in T.A. 2746 to Dwarven prince Thráin II and Frís in the mountain city of The Lonely Mountain. He was the eldest grandson of the Dwarf-king Thrór. As a young Dwarf Prince, Thorin witnessed the destruction and terror wrought when the great fire-breathing dragon Smaug attacked the Dwarf Kingdom of the Lonely Mountain in TA 2770. When no one came to the aid of the surviving Dwarves, his once proud and noble people were forced into exile. Thorin developed a long standing grudge with King Thranduil for not helping his grandfather save Erebor from Smaug and for not offering any aid to the refugees afterward. they lived as exiled in Dunland until 2790, during which time he quickly grew to become a capable, strong, fearless warrior. This was demonstrated when at the still young age of 53 he participated in the Battle of Azanulbizar in TA 2799, when Thorin marched with one of the Dwarven armies beneath the East-gate of Moria. Thorin sliced off Azog's arm in retaliation of Azog's murder and desecration of his grandfather Thrór, which was enough to gain Dain Ironfoot the advantage in his skirmish with the pale orc, beheading Azog and avenging Durin's Folk on the Orcs of Moria. At some point in the fighting, his shield broke, and using an oaken tree branch found on the floor as a shield, he gained the epithet "Oakenshield," which would remain with him even in death. Thorin eventually inherited his father's short broadsword, Deathless, and thus became King-in-Exile of Durin's Folk after his father went missing, and presumably died in the dungeons of Dol Guldur. For nearly a century, Thorin II tended to his people, building then numbers and wealth. Quest of Erebor In TA 2941, Thorin had become the respected leader of Durin's Folk in the new settlement in Ered Luin. Thorin became determined to reclaim his homeland and destroy the beast that brought such misery upon his people. After receiving a map his father had drawn for him and following advice from Gandalf the Grey, he took a contingent of Twelve Dwarves to visit Bilbo Baggins in order to hire him as a burglar for their cause. Thorin's intent was to infiltrate the Lonely Mountain and steal back the treasure from Smaug. The dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf experienced a number of dangers on their journey to the Lonely Mountain. On the journey the company encountered a band of trolls, and Thorin alone of the Dwarves was not taken unawares, though he was forced to surrender when the trolls threatened kill Bilbo. Later, after Gandalf saves them (with the help of Bilbo's quick banter as an added distraction), Thorin discovered the legendary sword Orcrist in the troll-hoard along with Glamdring, which Gandalf took for himself. Thorin's extreme bitterness towards Elven-kind almost caused him to reject Orcrist upon discovering it's origin, but Gandalf was able to convince him of its worth, and it soon became a favored weapon during the Quest. Orcs of Gundabad led by the warlord Bolg, son of Azog, were in pursuit of Thorin, to wipe out the line of Durin in revenge for his father's beheading in the Battle of Azanulbizar. Being thus pursuit, the Company sought refuge in Rivendell, though it was against Thorin's liking. In Rivendell, the Company rested and Elrond translated the moon runes in Thrór's Map, though Elrond questioned the wisdom aiding Thorin in a Quest that was likely to cost him his sanity, as it had done to his grandfather during the height of the dragon sickness. Thorin and the Company fought valiantly in the goblin tunnels in the Misty Mountains. In the end the Company were chased up some trees to escape the jaws of the wargs, and Thorin was rescued from death at the hands of Bolg by none other than Bilbo, who threw himself at the orc that was threatening the Dwarven King and killed him with his elven dagger/shortsword. This, coupled with Bilbo's choice to help the dwarves in spite of his cruel words to him at the Door of Goblin-Town, caused Thorin's opinion of the Hobbit to change drastically, and Thorin was forced to admit to himself that he felt something for the Hobbit, though he never voiced anything of it aloud. Instead he embraced Bilbo and apologized for doubting him. During their journey through Mirkwood, Thorin and his Company encountered spiders, from which they were rescued from being devoured by Bilbo. When the dwarves were captured by the wood-elves of Mirkwood following the battle with the spiders, Thorin has Orcrist taken from him by Legolas. Remembering his old grudge against the wood elves, Thorin insisted that the others not disclose their quest to their captors. Because of their refusal to divulge their business to the the Elvenking, the Company minus Bilbo were imprisoned. Thanks to Bilbo's cunning, the Company escaped in barrels and traveled down to Lake-town. Thorin was the first to emerge from the barrels at Lake-town and marched right up to the leaders of the town, declaring himself as King Under the Mountain. Thorin and Company were greeted warmly by the people of Lake-Town and hailed as the return of the King under the Mountain. They soon reached the Lonely Mountain and the Dwarves sent Bilbo inside, who converses with a newly awakened Smaug. Realizing that the Lake-Men must have helped the intruders, an enraged Smaug flew towards Lake-town to take revenge. There he was killed by Bard the Bowman who pierced the bare spot on Smaug's left breast with the last Black Arrow. Following the death of Smaug, the people of Laketown asked Thorin for a share of the treasure, as they wanted recompense for the destruction of their city, a part of Smaug's treasure originating from their former city, and it was a lord of Lake-Town who shot the fatal arrow that killed Smaug. Thorin was quickly overwhelmed by the greed of the dragon sickness after recovering his family's riches. Balin recognized that Thorin has utterly succumbed to dragon sickness, and confides this tearfully to Bilbo. Thorin even began to talk like Smaug, slowly, stressing sibilant syllables. He repeatedly berates and shouts at his followers. Bilbo alone of all the Company continued to hold Thorin's trust, and even in the midst of the sickness, Thorin gifted Bilbo with a shirt of mithril, which the Company instantly recognized as a courting gift, though Bilbo was ignorant of the meaning. Enraged by the presence of Thranduil in the negotiations with Bard f, refused to share any part of the treasure. Instead, he sent a raven to seek aid from his relative, Dáin II Ironfoot, who had a legion of Dwarven soldiers on the move to secure the reclaimed mountain city. Meanwhile, Thorin charged his companions with looking for the Arkenstone within the hoard of treasure. However Bilbo had already found the Arkenstone, and subsequently, secretly brought it to Bard and Thranduil to use as a bargaining counter. When Thorin learned of Bilbo's actions he felt utterly betrayed and became enraged, and in his maddened state he denounced his former companion as a traitor and threatened to throw him from the battlements. The sin of threatening bodily harm to his One thus committed, Thorin unwittingly forfeited all rights to claim him in life, according to Dwarven custom. The Company was appalled by his actions, and it was enough to break them of the spell the gold had cast on them. The growing conflict over the treasure between dwarves, elves, and men, likely to result in bloodshed, was suddenly averted by the approach of goblin and warg armies, so they instead joined forces to defeat their common enemies in what was later called the Battle of the Five Armies. Thorin would eventually come to his senses after experiencing a hallucination of hearing Bilbo and Gandalf's reprimands and seeing Smaug underneath a solid gold floor created from their attempt to kill him. Casting off his grandfather's crown and robes, he led his relieved company to reinforce Dain's forces who rallied around their rightful King and pushed back against the Orcs. During the battle, Thorin led an assault that proved his strength as a leader, striking out from the mountain and providing vital aid as the goblins threatened to overwhelm their foes. It became clear that the three armies of Dwarves, Elves, and Men were nonetheless outnumbered by the Goblin hoard, and the departure of King Thranduil rendered the defenders even weaker. Thorin decided to take his best warriors, Dwalin, Kili and Fíli, and go to Ravenhill, intending to kill Bolg and plunge the Orcs into disarray, perhaps securing victory. Bilbo persued them to warn that they were to be caught in an ambush, but arrived too late. Fíli and Kili had been killed in the ensuing skirmish and Bolg fatally wounds Thorin in the chest, only to be impaled by Thorin in turn, finally killing the bastard son of Azog. Before he died, he made his peace with Bilbo by commending the Hobbit's bravery and good character, tearfully apologising for his harsh words as he now recognised his friend's fundamentally benevolent motives. His last words were: Afterlife Thorin awoke in the Halls of Mahal to the tearful greetings of his dead loved ones, including his nephews who had died during the Battle. Though he was joyful at the reunion, his heart was sick and full of grief for the wrongs he had committed in life against the people who had put their trust and affection in him, none more so than Dis his sister and Bilbo, whom he eventually was forced to admit was his One. He would often visit the Chamber of Sansûkhul to peer into ''Gimlîn-zâram, the Star-pool, by which the dead may witness the events of the world of the living and watch over their loved ones. As it later turned out, Thorin was gifted by Mahal with the ability to whisper to the hearts and minds of the living and minutely guide their choices. Amongst those he spoke to in the decades following his death, none heard his voice so well as Gimli son of Gloin, whom Thorin would come to view as dear to him as a son, though they knew each other only a little in life. He would also watch Bilbo in the Shire with longing, reliving all his regrets over and over until, with much aid and council from his family, Thorin was able to forgive himself enough to move on from the past. As the War of the Ring commenced, Thorin took it upon himself to set up a watch rotation of his friends and family, to alert him to when he would be needed to help guide those who were fighting for the fate of Middle-earth. Personality Thorin was smart, proud, brave, intelligent, vengeful and a bit stubborn. He is rather friendly with the members of his company, but hostile to the Elves and suspicious of Bilbo, until the Hobbit proves his loyalty and worth. He was hardened by life and battle, proud and ambitious and even fanatical to his objective. Thorin was infamous for a high sense of importance and rank, but valued very nearly every individual of any status. Though Thórin could be cold and dismissive and had the habit of holding long speeches, he also was a capable leader, a much admired politician and warrior, determined and undaunted by death. He was extremely noble and highly respectable with a flair of vanity about him. He was admired by many throughout Middle-Earth. In spite of his many accomplishments, Thorin was habitually self-recriminating, beginning with his "failure" to preserve the life of his brother Frerin in the Battle of Azanulbizar. Though he hid it well from others, those who were closest to him were aware that he took cruel stock his own shortcomings to such a serious degree as to be unhealthy. One of these faults, though he denied vehemently being subject to, was the shared greed of his paternal grandfather for gold, though in his right mind he valued the welfare of others more. He was immensely brave and was willing to give himself up for any just cause. Thorin's name meant bold one. Weapons Thorin was a fierce and formidable warrior, highly skilled in both swordsmanship and archery. Thorin fought using typical dwarven axes, a bow, and swords as well as an elven blade called Orcrist, which he had discovered on the journey to the Lonely Mountain. Under Thranduil's imprisonment, the blade had been confiscated by the Wood-elves, though Legolas would later return the weapon at a critical moment during the Battle of Five Armies. At Thorin's burial, Thranduil decided it was more appropriate to place it on Thorin's tomb, and did so, along with the Arkenstone. The Orcrist was laid upon his tomb, glowing a vivid blue to warn of the approach of Orcs. Principal Items *Beorning Longbow *Chalice *Cup *Dwarven Boots *dwarven Dagger *dwarven Earth-plumb *Field bottle *Furred-Cloak *thieves Contract *Gauntlets *Harp of Dúrin´s Folk Golden Harp of Dúrin´s Folk *leather pouch *light Platemail *knife Long knife *of Thráin Necklace of Thráin *the Oakenshield (Club Thórin´s Club) *Orcrist *Pipe *Purse *Dwarven bow Short bow *Deathless (Dwarven sword Short sword) *Pack *saddlebag *sky-blue Hood with a long silver tassel *Silver Belt *Silver Spoon *small Knife *awl Stitching awl *Map Thórin's Map *Ring Thórin's Ring *Key Thrór´s Key *Axe Walking Axe Later: *Dwarven Shorbow of Erebor *Chainmail Plated Chainmail of Erebor *of Erebor Crown of Erebor Gallery: Thorin and his father Thrain.jpg|Thorin and his father Thráin Dwarves of Erebor1.png|Thorin's company bilbo-the-hobbit-35-600.jpg|Thorin's company category:Longbeards Category:Third Age Category:King Category:Dwarves of Ered luin Category:Dwarves Category:Dwarves of Erebor Category:House of Durin Category:Thórin & Company Category:Sansûkh